Post by andi on May 18, 2007 8:45:18 GMT -5
Thursday 26th April
We boarded our coach at 1.45am to travel down to London, we didn't really get comfortable enough to sleep and arrived at Victoria coach station at 6.45am. We took a taxi across London to Waterloo for the 8.11am eurostar to Paris. The distance was only 2 miles if that and it cost us £10, the driver went the long way around deliberately so we did not tip him very well and he had a face like a wet weekend on him but we didn't care as we were unhappy at him for scamming us. We breezed through customs and only had to wait 10-15mins to board the train.
We arrived in Paris on time and joined the queue for a taxi to our hotel on Bld de Grenelle in the 15th. The driver was friendly and only spoke limited english so we got our first chance to converse in french. we did not write down the hotel name and address this time as we felt more confident in french conversation. Traffic was heavy as it was 12.30pm. we drove through the city, past the Louvre, along the siene getting our first view past the tower to the hotel. the fare was 16 euros but we tipped him well too!
When we went into the hotel our room wasn't ready for an hour so we left our luggage and grabbed some snacks for lunch and walked around the corner to the Champs d Mar where we sat in the glorious sunshine. At 2pm we went back to the hotel, freshened up and prepared ourselves for the afternoon and evening ahead.
we headed back down the Champs d Mar, underneath the tower, had a rum and raisen ice-cream (yummy) crossed the bridge to the Trocadero taking lots of photos along the way. we walked along to the Arc d Triomphe, here we sat for a good while watching the chaos of the traffic. At this point we were 48 hrs without sleep and because it was hot our feet hurt even with the comfortable shoes. After the rest we walked down the Champs Elysee to Laduree,
We had a mix of mini macarons, an Ispahan dessert (sp?) a rhubarb and raspberry tart and a strawberry and cream tart to take away. we walked down ave george 5th and sat a while and ate the macarons. we continued down to the Alma tunnel where Diana died as my mum hadnt seen it, here we got a good distant view of Sacre Cour. We walked along the river back to Trocadero where we sat dangling our sore, tired feet in the fountain pool, eating our scrumptious desserts waiting for the lights to come on over the city.
The tower lit up at 8.50pm and the first twinkle was at 9pm. we walked back across the river to the Bateaux Parisienne where we took the cruise and rested our feet whilst taking in the sites. After the cruise we had a slow stroll back down the Champs d Mar to our hotel for a good nights sleep.
Friday 27th April
we woke up with stiff legs and went for breakfast but by the time we set out for the day we were to excited to notice them, today we took the metro to Concorde where we strolled throught the Jardin d Tuilleries, it was another fabulous sunny day.
We reached the Louvre by around 11-30am, the queue was small and it only took around 5 mins to get in. Once in we went straight to the Mona Lisa as my mum had not seen it yet, from there we saw the Venus De Milo and through the ancient egyptian rooms, next we took in Napoleons apartments, sheer decadence! We wanted to see the other half of the egyptian rooms but they were closed for the day so we took a look at the beautiful courtyards before we left. Once outside we sat with our feet in the fountain pools again for half an hour (sheer bliss) we went out the side exit to Rue Rivioli where we browsed the shops and brought our souvenirs. We arrived at Angelina's around 2pm, there were no queues and plenty of tables, we just had to sample the hot chocolate and mont blanc dessert! WOW!!! truly delightful, heaven on a plate and in a cup for me! Death by chocolate indeed.
We could still taste the chocolate when we got to Place Vendome. We saw the entrance to the Ritz hotel but were disappointed by it. I don't know what I was expecting but other hotels have a much prettier and grander frontage than this famous one. Next we took the metro to somewhere between St Louis and Cite. we wanted to go to Berthillon but it seemed a good walk and our feet were sore again so we just went straight to St Chapelle, mum was struggling at this point so she stay outside. it cost us 7.50 euros each, it was colourful and the windows were magnificent but we only stayed 10 minutes. Mum wouldn't have made it up the stairs to the hall of windows as they were narrow turret style ones, although the place was beautiful I didn't really think it was that good a value for the money.
We headed over towards Notre Dame next in time to hear the bells calling people to mass, and saw a vendor selling Berthillon ice-cream, I had a passion fruit for myself (and shoesy) hubby had a citron.....very sharp and refreshing, they were the sorbets. we sat for the start of the service and the choir sounded like angels.
Mum and I purchased our new rosary beads then we walked all around .....just as we were getting to the exit we heard a scream and saw a girl running out with a policeman chasing after her, some poor unsuspecting victim had been robbed, and inside the church at that! We found a small restaurant in the latin quarter for a prefixed price meal on Rue Huchet, we ate at Le Jardin Du Roy. The staff were friendly but the food in my opinion was only average, we all had a vegetable soup starter which was pleasant enough, for main we had, spagetti bolognese, steak with pepper sauce, and penne pasta with garlic and mushroom sauce, we all passed on the dessert. After dinner we wandered around the area and watched an old man eating razor blades and cigarettes for money, very strange but entertaining! As we walked back to the metro we saw a brass band on the corner playing and dancing it was marvellous. We got back to the hotel around 9pm, mum decided to shower and stay in so we grabbed some wine and snacks and went to the Champs d Mar around 10.45pm. there must have been around 10,000 people sitting in groups on the grass socialising , drinking wine and eating good food, many were young, none were rowdy, obnoxious or aggressive. at midnight the cheer went up for the twinkling of the tower. It amazes me how metal and electricity can capture our hearts so much! we strolled back to our hotel around 12-10am. Just as we were about to cross the road hundreds of people on roller blades came past us, we were amazed to see it happen at midnight, apparently the locals do this every friday night and its organised by Paris Roller.
Saturday 28th April
After breakfast we took the metro to Pigelle and wandered up and across to Sacre Cour, what a marvellous sight to see!
The bracelet men didn't bother us much. The fununcular was still out of action so we did a slow walk up the steps, resting once or twice for my mum, again it was an extremely hot day. Once at the top we had a quick stroll around inside then sat on the steps for half an hour in the sunshine. For lunch we walked back down through Monmarte to Sancerre bar where we enjoyed a huge meal of omelette, minced beef burger and chicken burger with fries and salad. The salad dressing was to die for! (really light and tasty) My beef burger was quite pink and I wouldn't eat it like that at home but it was delicious and I ate the lot! From here we wondered on down to see the famous windmill of Moulin Rouge. We wanted to take the metro to Luxembourg but were struggling to find the best route, once on the metro we saw that it stopped at Pere Lachaise so we stayed on to there.
We walked around but forgot to get a map, we found Chopin grave adorned with beautiful flowers and Jim Morrisons. It was lovely to saunter through this peaceful and prolific grave yard. Once outside we grabbed an ice-cream that may have been Berthillon, I had cookie flavour (delicious) mum had passion fruit and hubby had raspberry......sooooo creamy! We took the metro to Gare du Nord for the RER B to luxembourg but got too scared to get on it incase it was the wrong train so we decided to go back to our hotel. we washed up and decided to eat locally on the Bld Grenelle at Restaurant Pizzeria (a new place) I must say that the food was incredible, I had a prawn cocktail starter and the others had minestrone soup, my husband who is a veggie says that it is the best soup he has ever tasted, for the main course hubby had a vegetable pizza with every kind of vegetable on it which he said was lovely and mum and I had lasagne which was huge and full of pasta and meat, truly a gastronomic delight! We were all too full for a dessert. The girl serving us even put the leftover pizza in a bag for hubby to take away. After our meal we grabbed some wine and took our place amongst the masses again on the Champs d Mar for the midnight twinkle. When it was time to leave I must admit to having a tear in my eye as it would be my last view of the tower until I can return to Paris once more. strolling to the hotel hubby and I kept squeezing each others hands as if to say are you ok? when we got back to the hotel we packed up, I didn't want to go to sleep as it would bring the end of the trip faster to conclusion. In the morning we had our breakfast and managed to have a quick stroll through the sunday market on the boulevard under the train lines where I got 2 pretty dresses for 5 euros each. Once we had checked out or taxi awaited us for the return trip home. I refused to say goodbye to Paris, just "see you again soon!" .
Apologies for the length of the post , but it was cathartic writing all our adventure, as most Paris travellers will know it helps with the depression!
We boarded our coach at 1.45am to travel down to London, we didn't really get comfortable enough to sleep and arrived at Victoria coach station at 6.45am. We took a taxi across London to Waterloo for the 8.11am eurostar to Paris. The distance was only 2 miles if that and it cost us £10, the driver went the long way around deliberately so we did not tip him very well and he had a face like a wet weekend on him but we didn't care as we were unhappy at him for scamming us. We breezed through customs and only had to wait 10-15mins to board the train.
We arrived in Paris on time and joined the queue for a taxi to our hotel on Bld de Grenelle in the 15th. The driver was friendly and only spoke limited english so we got our first chance to converse in french. we did not write down the hotel name and address this time as we felt more confident in french conversation. Traffic was heavy as it was 12.30pm. we drove through the city, past the Louvre, along the siene getting our first view past the tower to the hotel. the fare was 16 euros but we tipped him well too!
When we went into the hotel our room wasn't ready for an hour so we left our luggage and grabbed some snacks for lunch and walked around the corner to the Champs d Mar where we sat in the glorious sunshine. At 2pm we went back to the hotel, freshened up and prepared ourselves for the afternoon and evening ahead.
we headed back down the Champs d Mar, underneath the tower, had a rum and raisen ice-cream (yummy) crossed the bridge to the Trocadero taking lots of photos along the way. we walked along to the Arc d Triomphe, here we sat for a good while watching the chaos of the traffic. At this point we were 48 hrs without sleep and because it was hot our feet hurt even with the comfortable shoes. After the rest we walked down the Champs Elysee to Laduree,
We had a mix of mini macarons, an Ispahan dessert (sp?) a rhubarb and raspberry tart and a strawberry and cream tart to take away. we walked down ave george 5th and sat a while and ate the macarons. we continued down to the Alma tunnel where Diana died as my mum hadnt seen it, here we got a good distant view of Sacre Cour. We walked along the river back to Trocadero where we sat dangling our sore, tired feet in the fountain pool, eating our scrumptious desserts waiting for the lights to come on over the city.
The tower lit up at 8.50pm and the first twinkle was at 9pm. we walked back across the river to the Bateaux Parisienne where we took the cruise and rested our feet whilst taking in the sites. After the cruise we had a slow stroll back down the Champs d Mar to our hotel for a good nights sleep.
Friday 27th April
we woke up with stiff legs and went for breakfast but by the time we set out for the day we were to excited to notice them, today we took the metro to Concorde where we strolled throught the Jardin d Tuilleries, it was another fabulous sunny day.
We reached the Louvre by around 11-30am, the queue was small and it only took around 5 mins to get in. Once in we went straight to the Mona Lisa as my mum had not seen it yet, from there we saw the Venus De Milo and through the ancient egyptian rooms, next we took in Napoleons apartments, sheer decadence! We wanted to see the other half of the egyptian rooms but they were closed for the day so we took a look at the beautiful courtyards before we left. Once outside we sat with our feet in the fountain pools again for half an hour (sheer bliss) we went out the side exit to Rue Rivioli where we browsed the shops and brought our souvenirs. We arrived at Angelina's around 2pm, there were no queues and plenty of tables, we just had to sample the hot chocolate and mont blanc dessert! WOW!!! truly delightful, heaven on a plate and in a cup for me! Death by chocolate indeed.
We could still taste the chocolate when we got to Place Vendome. We saw the entrance to the Ritz hotel but were disappointed by it. I don't know what I was expecting but other hotels have a much prettier and grander frontage than this famous one. Next we took the metro to somewhere between St Louis and Cite. we wanted to go to Berthillon but it seemed a good walk and our feet were sore again so we just went straight to St Chapelle, mum was struggling at this point so she stay outside. it cost us 7.50 euros each, it was colourful and the windows were magnificent but we only stayed 10 minutes. Mum wouldn't have made it up the stairs to the hall of windows as they were narrow turret style ones, although the place was beautiful I didn't really think it was that good a value for the money.
We headed over towards Notre Dame next in time to hear the bells calling people to mass, and saw a vendor selling Berthillon ice-cream, I had a passion fruit for myself (and shoesy) hubby had a citron.....very sharp and refreshing, they were the sorbets. we sat for the start of the service and the choir sounded like angels.
Mum and I purchased our new rosary beads then we walked all around .....just as we were getting to the exit we heard a scream and saw a girl running out with a policeman chasing after her, some poor unsuspecting victim had been robbed, and inside the church at that! We found a small restaurant in the latin quarter for a prefixed price meal on Rue Huchet, we ate at Le Jardin Du Roy. The staff were friendly but the food in my opinion was only average, we all had a vegetable soup starter which was pleasant enough, for main we had, spagetti bolognese, steak with pepper sauce, and penne pasta with garlic and mushroom sauce, we all passed on the dessert. After dinner we wandered around the area and watched an old man eating razor blades and cigarettes for money, very strange but entertaining! As we walked back to the metro we saw a brass band on the corner playing and dancing it was marvellous. We got back to the hotel around 9pm, mum decided to shower and stay in so we grabbed some wine and snacks and went to the Champs d Mar around 10.45pm. there must have been around 10,000 people sitting in groups on the grass socialising , drinking wine and eating good food, many were young, none were rowdy, obnoxious or aggressive. at midnight the cheer went up for the twinkling of the tower. It amazes me how metal and electricity can capture our hearts so much! we strolled back to our hotel around 12-10am. Just as we were about to cross the road hundreds of people on roller blades came past us, we were amazed to see it happen at midnight, apparently the locals do this every friday night and its organised by Paris Roller.
Saturday 28th April
After breakfast we took the metro to Pigelle and wandered up and across to Sacre Cour, what a marvellous sight to see!
The bracelet men didn't bother us much. The fununcular was still out of action so we did a slow walk up the steps, resting once or twice for my mum, again it was an extremely hot day. Once at the top we had a quick stroll around inside then sat on the steps for half an hour in the sunshine. For lunch we walked back down through Monmarte to Sancerre bar where we enjoyed a huge meal of omelette, minced beef burger and chicken burger with fries and salad. The salad dressing was to die for! (really light and tasty) My beef burger was quite pink and I wouldn't eat it like that at home but it was delicious and I ate the lot! From here we wondered on down to see the famous windmill of Moulin Rouge. We wanted to take the metro to Luxembourg but were struggling to find the best route, once on the metro we saw that it stopped at Pere Lachaise so we stayed on to there.
We walked around but forgot to get a map, we found Chopin grave adorned with beautiful flowers and Jim Morrisons. It was lovely to saunter through this peaceful and prolific grave yard. Once outside we grabbed an ice-cream that may have been Berthillon, I had cookie flavour (delicious) mum had passion fruit and hubby had raspberry......sooooo creamy! We took the metro to Gare du Nord for the RER B to luxembourg but got too scared to get on it incase it was the wrong train so we decided to go back to our hotel. we washed up and decided to eat locally on the Bld Grenelle at Restaurant Pizzeria (a new place) I must say that the food was incredible, I had a prawn cocktail starter and the others had minestrone soup, my husband who is a veggie says that it is the best soup he has ever tasted, for the main course hubby had a vegetable pizza with every kind of vegetable on it which he said was lovely and mum and I had lasagne which was huge and full of pasta and meat, truly a gastronomic delight! We were all too full for a dessert. The girl serving us even put the leftover pizza in a bag for hubby to take away. After our meal we grabbed some wine and took our place amongst the masses again on the Champs d Mar for the midnight twinkle. When it was time to leave I must admit to having a tear in my eye as it would be my last view of the tower until I can return to Paris once more. strolling to the hotel hubby and I kept squeezing each others hands as if to say are you ok? when we got back to the hotel we packed up, I didn't want to go to sleep as it would bring the end of the trip faster to conclusion. In the morning we had our breakfast and managed to have a quick stroll through the sunday market on the boulevard under the train lines where I got 2 pretty dresses for 5 euros each. Once we had checked out or taxi awaited us for the return trip home. I refused to say goodbye to Paris, just "see you again soon!" .
Apologies for the length of the post , but it was cathartic writing all our adventure, as most Paris travellers will know it helps with the depression!